[:en]=Energy Tobacco “Solaris”[:it]Tabacco Energetico “Solaris”[:]

[:en]Sunchem holds the exclusive rights to the enjoyment and development on an international level of the new industrial patent “seed tobacco” (Italian patent RM2007A000129 and international patent PCT/IB/2007/053412) .

Sunchem is developing a non-nicotine non-GMO tobacco variety into a novel source of unconflicted protein and biofuel.

The plant of tobacco for energy applications – SOLARIS, contrary to the tobacco for the cigarettes industry, maximizes the production of flowers and seeds to the detriment of the leaves production, and biomass for biogas production and feed industry.

The plant is extremely robust, able to grow in various climates and soils, as a matter of fact it can be cultivated on marginal lands which cannot be used for food production.

It is an annual plant, with the harvest in the same year of the sow, allowing farmers to plan every year the size of dedicated fields.

From 1 HA cultivation of Energy Tobacco we could have an average of seed production from 4 to 10 TN with multiple harvest per year (based on different climate condition).

Seed contains around 40% of oil and by cold press we could have 33-34% of raw oil and 65% of protein cake.

Fresh biomass presents a good power of Ch4. Threshing the inflorescence to obtain seed we have dry biomass – another product. Biomass can be used also in the feed industry because of protein content.

– No food crop (but edible due to the cake – back to human life cycle)

– high sustainability criteria (RSB certified)

– flexible approach to different climatic conditions

Regarding the high yield productivity it is possible to figured out profit margin long the value chain: from agriculture to industrial phase and market

The industrial patent covers the following claims:

• A group covers the mutagenised tobacco plant characterised in that it has a much higher seed production than the average seed production of the currently existing tobacco plants. The claimed plants, therefore, are plants that, for the same amount of sowed soil and seeds planted, produce a much higher quantity of seeds than any other tobacco plant currently on the market. The plants of the invention, can also be further genetically modified to provide resistance against the various pathogenic agents

• A second group claims the use of the plants for the production of seeds for the production of the products indicated in the patent: fuel, supplements, oil, oil cakes, etc.

• A third group claims the production method of the plant, therefore they also protect the necessary procedure to create the desired plants, at least in the methods indicated in the claims

• A fourth group protects the seeds of the plant, their use for producing tobacco oil, fuel oils, biodiesel, animal food supplements, solid fuels and dietary supplements for humans

• A fifth group protects the oil extraction method from tobacco seeds wherein the oil yield is equal to between 70 and 95% of the oil through the pressing step and any other steps

• A sixth group covers the tobacco seed oil that can be obtained with the extraction method according to previous claims characterized in that it has an iodine level of less than or equal to 120.

The patent claims extend to an international level and are currently undergoing negotiations with the different countries. Patent has been already granted in 100 countries, among which: USA, South Africa, West Africa countries, Italy, EuroAsia, etc.

SOLARIS seed has been registered at Minister of Agriculture, Italy and in other major industrial countries.